Walks of Memory and Chance
Over the years I have developed strategies to create a sense of home, such as repeatedly walking a new neighbourhood until I no longer need a map to know where I am. The first series that I created during the MFA program was inspired by walks that I took after relocating to Ottawa.
Constructed Territories
For the next series, I turned my investigation of home to my personal and family history in the province of Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan is a constructed territory, defined geographically by lines of latitude and longitude, with no natural boundaries. These paintings reference the quilt-like pattern of European settlement in the prairies, a function of the grid lines that mark the quarter sections of farmland. The meandering lines on Grandmotherland reflect travel routes between various family locations, drawn from imperfect childhood memories of long journeys taken by car.
